TENNIS ROUNDUP : Rosset Ousts Becker in Two Sets

Boris Becker continued to struggle on the clay courts Tuesday, losing to Olympic champion Marc Rosset of Switzerland, 7-6 (7-3), 6-3, at the Monte Carlo Open in Monaco.

After receiving a first-round bye, Becker met the hard-serving Rosset in his first match since losing in the second round of the Nice Open last week.

Top-seeded Stefan Edberg of Sweden rallied to defeat Henri Leconte of France, 3-6, 7-5, 6-1, in other action Tuesday. Andrei Medvedev of Ukraine continued his strong play with a 6-4, 6-0 victory over Tom Nijssen of the Netherlands.

The Nice Open was Becker’s first competition in almost two months because he suffered from viral infections. He attributed his problems to the long layoff.

“My problem now is that I start again on clay which, even if I am in good shape, it is a bit harder for me than on any other court,” he said.

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Second-seeded Conchita Martinez of Spain defeated Maja Zivec-Skulj of Germany, 6-2, 6-2, in the first round of the La Familia Open at Barcelona.

In other matches, fifth-seeded Magdalena Maleeva of Bulgaria defeated Isabella Demongeot of France, 6-1, 6-2, and six-seeded Mary Pierce of France defeated Cecilia Dahlman of Sweden, 6-0, 6-1.